Contributor I

Does Beam Gen 2 & Mini Sub really support Dolby Atmos or any Surround Sound

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Back in January 2023, I decided to treat myself to a full entertainment system upgrade for my bedroom, replacing my 8 year old TV, PS4, and FireTv Stick with a 2022 LG C2 EVO, PS5, AppleTV 4K, and Sonos Beam gen2 + Mini Sub.

At first I was really happy with the Sonos setup from a sound quality perspective particularly with music, but I struggled with getting surround sound to work. No matter how many times I ran Trueplay front audio sounded further away in front of me and rear audio sounded right in front of me. Left to right surround effects are only really noticeably if my face is within 12 inches of the Beam; I used SpiderMan No Way Home on AppleTV 4K (bought and downloaded not streamed) and some other sources recommended on the internet for testing surround sound.

After reading countless posts on this board and others I update my TV’s setting to Passthrough Audio, eARC enabled, and HDMI settings to Bitstream. No change in surround quality, but I did see it now says Dolby Atmos in the Sonos app. I’m out of my window to return the MiniSub at Best Buy or I would have returned the whole Sonos setup.

Another side effect of using passthrough audio is whenever an Atmos movie is played through my AppleTV 4K there is periodic loud Pops like a speaker blowing and the Beam looses audio for a few seconds before turning back on, its not consistent seems to occur when a lot of action and loud effects like Antman Quantum Mania battle scene at the end of the film. On the PS5 while playing games the sound cuts out (no pop) consistently about every minute for a few seconds which is unbearable because it cuts out dialogue which impacts the gameplay.

So my question is does Sonos Beam gen2 + Mini Sub really support Dolby Atmos and eArc? Is there any solution to the Sonos system not working properly with my TV and PS5? I see a lot of people posting similar issues.

I don’t experience sound cut outs when watching non Dolby Vision / Dolby Atmos content or on the PS5 unless playing a game (ie watching trailers etc through PS store, etc are fine). As far as I know PS5 isn’t Atmos.

I still hope surround sound will one day work, but I suspect it never will. The audio is still far better than the TV speakers alone especially with the mini sub, but I could have bought a lot cheaper system and had the same effective stereo results.

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Lucky DragonAuthor

Contributor I

Update, my modified settings above solved the sound issues. Still no virtual surround with or without TruePlay. I know some say it’s LG, but if you research the internet, like I should have before I bought into Sonos product line, you’ll see its not just LG, but also includes Samsung and others.

The audio quality and especially with mini sub are great for playing music off Apple Music in effectively stereo sound, but it does not deliver any form of surround sound or even a wide sound stage in my opinion. If you haven’t bought yet, buy another brand. Sonos still hasn't contacted me about the issues.

jgatie

Update, my modified settings above solved the sound issues. Still no virtual surround with or without TruePlay. I know some say it’s LG, but if you research the internet, like I should have before I bought into Sonos product line, you’ll see its not just LG, but also includes Samsung and others.

The audio quality and especially with mini sub are great for playing music off Apple Music in effectively stereo sound, but it does not deliver any form of surround sound or even a wide sound stage in my opinion. If you haven’t bought yet, buy another brand. Sonos still hasn't contacted me about the issues.

Utter nonsense. I have a Beam Gen 2, surround Ones, and a Sub in my bedroom, and the surround effects are obvious and pronounced, with both TV and Atmos music sources. If you aren't experiencing any surround effects, it's your TV settings, or your source. It's certainly not Sonos being incapable of delivering "any form of surround sound."

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Lucky DragonAuthor

Contributor I

Update, my modified settings above solved the sound issues. Still no virtual surround with or without TruePlay. I know some say it’s LG, but if you research the internet, like I should have before I bought into Sonos product line, you’ll see its not just LG, but also includes Samsung and others.

The audio quality and especially with mini sub are great for playing music off Apple Music in effectively stereo sound, but it does not deliver any form of surround sound or even a wide sound stage in my opinion. If you haven’t bought yet, buy another brand. Sonos still hasn't contacted me about the issues.

Utter nonsense. I have a Beam Gen 2, surround Ones, and a Sub in my bedroom, and the surround effects are obvious and pronounced, with both TV and Atmos music sources. If you aren't experiencing any surround effects, it's your TV settings, or your source. It's certainly not Sonos being incapable of delivering "any form of surround sound."

I don’t have rear speakers so comparing your setup to mine is, well, utter nonsense :D

I bought the Beam because a major selling point is the ability to have convincing virtual Dolby Atmos surround sound with just the Beam only. They even have an animation of it on the product page, see link below.

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/beam?utm_campaign=GGL_US_EN_SONOS_B_TRADEMARK_EXACT_360i&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_content=GGL_US_EN_SONOS_B_TRADEMARK_EXACT_360i&utm_term=sonos+tv+bar&ds_rl=1245022&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoumnj4bf_wIVT8eGCh0FOQKXEAAYASABEgK03fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Clearly I lack a little common sense also for buying into their marketing BS.

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

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Lucky DragonAuthor

Contributor I

@jgatie

My previous attempts to respond went to moderation so I’m guessing Sonos was upset I’m calling them out and I’m now unblocked or because I posted links to the official Sonos Beam product page which clearly states and even has animations that with the Beam only (no physical rear speakers) I should be able to experience high quality virtual Atmos surround sound. Comparing your setup which include real rear speakers to my setup which uses only the Beam plus Minisub is utter nonsense LOL

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Greeneel78

Avid Contributor I

@ Lucky Dragon, Think about it…..why would people buy and set up rear speakers if the bar could produce the same effect without them? You will not get a true surround experience with the bar only, no matter what advertising you have seen. You may get a slight surround effect if you are lucky, and you should get some height with an Atmos input, but in all honesty I struggle to here much height as that is also an effect with the beam gen 2, where as the Arc has upward firing speakers. I honestly think that you are hoping for too much regarding surround effects.

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Lucky DragonAuthor

Contributor I

@ Lucky Dragon, Think about it…..why would people buy and set up rear speakers if the bar could produce the same effect without them? You will not get a true surround experience with the bar only, no matter what advertising you have seen. You may get a slight surround effect if you are lucky, and you should get some height with an Atmos input, but in all honesty I struggle to here much height as that is also an effect with the beam gen 2, where as the Arc has upward firing speakers. I honestly think that you are hoping for too much regarding surround effects.

When I first started this post I believed I was duped by marketing and social media hype about this product line and brand. In my experience it failed to performed as the company claims. Then I came across this one YouTube video which brought the setup to life. The 3D effect is what I expected, a wide and engulfing virtual surround sound stage, front audio was in front of me, the effect of rear audio was barely there, but the effect of side channels was clearly present and the sound effects like thunder roared across the virtual sound stage including a sense of overhead audio.

After experiencing that I thought maybe I need higher quality source material so I bought Wonder Woman on Blu-ray. Even with the latest PS5 update which now supports Dolby Atmos, and the Sonos app says the Beam is receiving Atmos from the PS5, still unable to create a surround stage. Every time I play that YouTube video it just comes to life though.

I don’t know for sure, but my current opinion is despite wha the Sonos app is saying about the source, there must be some processing going on at the LG tv layer which would make sense since that YouTube video is specifically it’s designed to demo LG TV 3D sound and I happen to have a LG C2 EVO OLED.

My recommendation remains the same to friends, colleagues, and anyone who asks me about Sonos. Don’t buy it. Go with a matched set, like if you buy an LG get the matching LG sound bar etc.

The stereo experience with my setup is just fine and far better the bare LG TV. When I replace this TV or maybe add another I’m definitely going first party all the way to ensure compatibility. Probably will dig deep into the wallet and get a Sony Bravia line. The 2023 models on paper look impressive both picture quality and audio quality wise and are also PS5 3d audio ready.

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